Positioning device for wheeled vehicles



Sept. 23, 1958 P. E. MORGAN 2,353,239

POSITIONING DEVICE FOR WHEELED VEHICLES Filed Aug. 6. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 23, 1958 P. E. MORGAN 2,853,239

L POSITIONING DEVICE FOR WHEELED VEHICLES Filed Aug. 6. 1953 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Pau/ E. MORGAN By his Attorney horse one on top of another.

United States Patent POSITIONING DEVICE FOR wHEELEn VEHICLES Paul E. Morgan, Melrose, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 6, 1953, Serial No. 372,732

1 Claim. (Cl. 238-4) This invention relates to positioning devices and more particularly to means for properly positioning a work receiving member in a predetermined position. The invention is illustrated herein as associated with an automatic leather stacking machine of the type disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No.'2,737,390, granted March 6, 1956, in the names of Paul E. Morgan, Arthur R. Abbott and John J. Maciejowski but it will be under stood that the invention is not limited to association with machines of this type.

it is customary, in operating an automatic leather stacking machine of the type disclosed in the aforementioned patent, to locate a leather receiving horse in position to receive hides or skins which are draped over the If the horse is properly located, the services of an operator to observe the process of the stacking operation are obviated, this being an important advantage of such a machine. However, if the horse is not properly located with respect to the stacking machine, the leather will not be properly draped over it so that the pile of leather may be unbalanced, ultimately causing the stack to fall to the floor or to cause the horse to topple over. Should this happen the labor saving advantages of the machine are lost and the leather may also be seriously damaged, especially if the leather has been finished, in which case it might be downgraded or made unsaleable.

lt has proved inpractical to provide fixed stops on the floor for locating the horses relatively to the machines because of variations in the spacing of the wheels on the horses, the construction of which has not become standardized. Some horses have their wheels mounted at the four corners of a rectangular base the width of which is not standardized, and another type has its Wheels located centrally of the sides of a rectangular base.

it is an object of the present invention to provide improved locating means of simple construction for locating a wheeled work-receiving member in a predetermined position.

To this end and in accordance with a feature of the invention, two members of angular cross section are bolted to the floor lengthwise of and symmetrically with respect to the pivot roll about which the delivery arm on the stacking machine oscillates. To each of these members and outwardly thereof there is attached by two leaf springs an outer guide rail. These guide rails are normally spaced apart a greater distance than the lateral spacing of the wheels of the largest size horses to be used with the machines and each rail has an end portion inclined inwardly toward the other rail so that the rails exert a cam action on the wheels of the horse as it is moved over the positioning device. As the horse is moved further over the positioning device the rails move toward each other sufficient to accommodate the spacing of the wheels. The resilient mounting of the guide rails further insures that the horse will be centrally disposed relatively to the rail supporting members and therefore in a predetermined relation to the stacking machine.

Patented Sept. 23, 1958 In accordance with a further feature of the invention, provision is made for guiding the front and rear wheels of that type of horse in which the wheels are disposed centrally of the sides of a rectangular base, between the members supporting the guide rails.

The above and other features of the invention, including various details of construction and novel combinations of parts will now be described with reference to the drawings and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of one form of apparatus in which the invention is embodied; and

Fig. 2 is an angular view on an enlarged scale of the centering device of Fig. 1.

Automatic leather stacking machines of the type referred to comprise a main frame 10 (Fig. l), conveyor belts 12, 14 arranged to carry workpieces upwardly along an incline to a pivot roll 16 where a third belt 18 is arranged to assist in carrying the workpiece downwardly along a swinging arm 20 which is pivotally connected to the frame 10 about the pivot roll 16, the workpiece being discharged from the exit portion 22 of the arm 20.

Detecting fingers 24 sense the presence of a workpiece and relay impulses to a time delay circuit maintained within a box 26 which actuates a control solenoid 28 which in turn actuates a hydraulic system operating through a rod 30 to swing the arm 20 in proper time relationship to place the workpiece W equally on either side of a horse H positioned immediately beneath the pivot roll 16. The horse H, which is of the corner mounted type, above described, is located beneath the pivot roll 16 by a centering device incorporating the features of this invention and indicated generally by the reference character 32. For a description of the details of construction and operation of the leather stacking machine, reference is made to the above-mentioned patent.

Two angular members 34 (Fig. 2) support the centering apparatus to be described in addition to having other functions. The members 34 are positioned parallel to and equidistant from a vertical plane extending through the axis of the pivot roll 16 and are secured in this position upon the floor as by the use of leg screws 36. The upright portions of the members 34 are spaced apart to form a track to guide the front and rear wheels of the centrally mounted type of horse. A side rail 38 is yieldably connected to each member 34 by two leaf springs 40. The leaf springs 40 are rigidly secured to the angu lar members 34 by screws 42 and are loosely joined to the side rails 38 by screws and nuts 44. In their normal positions (shown in phantom in Fig. 2) the side rails are spaced apart further than the widest wheel spacing normally used in horse construction. The side rails 38 are bent inwardly to form cam sections 46 at the entering end of the centering device (to the right in Fig. 2). The angular members 34 are bent in diverging directions to form cam sections 48 also at the entering end. A safety stop is provided by bending the opposite ends of the side rails 38 outwardly to form projections 50.

As indicated above, there are two principal methods for mounting wheels on the horses used in tanneries. In one method the wheels are rotatably mounted at the corners of a rectangular frame assuming the positions indicated in phantom in Fig. 2 and denoted by the characters c. In the other type of construction the wheels are mounted centrally of the sides of a rectangular frame. Usually in the latter type of construction the middle wheels are of a larger diameter and the wheels assume the position shown in phantom and denoted by the reference characters s in Fig. 2.

When it is desired to place an empty horse in position to receive workpieces from the stacking machine, the horse is located at the entrance end of the centering epsseess device 32 and then moved beneath the stacking machine. With a corner mounted horse, the forward wheels will engage thecamming sections of the side rails 38 in their expanded positions shown in phantom in Fig, 2. Retains the springs 405m of equal strength, the nil-ward end of the horse will thereby be centered with respect to the angular members 34 and the pivot roll 16. Continued inward movement of the horse'will cause the side rails 38 to be deflected inwardly and the rear wheels to be likewise positioned so that when the horse is fully beneath the stacking machine the positioning device will assume the shape shown in full lines in Fig. 2 with the Wheels 0 of the hors in' the ositions there shown and the horse located centrally beneath the pivot r011 16 as seen in Fig; 1. The use of this device with a horse having centrally mounted wheels isjsiriiilar. When that type of horse is moved beneath the stacking machine the leading wheel first contacts and is ce'ntered by the camming sections 48 "of the members 34 and upon continued inward movement of thehorse the side wheels are centered by the camming sections? of the side rails 38 and upon completed inward movement the wheels s assume the positions, shown in Fig. 2, the side rails 38 being deflected inwardly to the positions shown in full in that figure. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as 4 new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A positioning device for vehicles of various sizes which have wheels mounted at their corners or centrally of their sides, said device comprising a pair of relatively movable side rails having parallel outer vehicle engaging surfaces, resilient means urging said rails apart but permitting them to be deflected inwardly to accommodate vehicles of various widths, said rails having converging camming sections defining an entrance portion, and members forming a track between said side rails, said members being spaced apart suificientlyto accommodate the centrally disposed front -and rear Wheels of a vehicle and having diverging sections defining an entrance portion therefor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

